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| Members of DD & The Fayrohs are Darla Drew Lerdal, seated, Hank Harris, back row left, Tom Sitzler, center, and Don Lerdal. The group will play its last public performance tonight at Loud American Road House in Sturgis. (Courtesy photo) |
DD & the Fayrohs breaking up
RAPID CITY - Darla Drew Lerdal jokes that she often
told friends that the day the nation successfully landed an unmanned rover on
Mars and sent back color photos, DD & The Fayrohs would break up.
Well, it's happened.
After 21 years of performing throughout the region,
DD & The Fayrohs will play one last public gig beginning at 9:30 p.m. today
at Loud American Road House in Sturgis. A private performance will end their
career on Saturday, Jan. 17.
The band does rock tunes from the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s and some select
country songs. Drew Lerdal said they also do one polka and one waltz during each
show just because they can.
In addition to lead singer DD (Darla Drew Lerdal), group members are DD's
husband, Don Lerdal, on guitar,
Tom Sitzler on drums and
Hank Harris on bass
guitar. The Fayrohs round out the basic drums, guitar and bass guitar sound with
four-part vocal harmonies.
"We're not breaking up under any adverse conditions. We're stopping while
we still like each other," Drew Lerdal said Thursday.
She has taken a job as development and program coordinator for Rapid City's Dahl
Arts Center.
"This is where my heart is right now. It's a place for me to use the skills
I have learned over the years," she said.
Don Lerdal will perform with the Abbey Road Band, which frequently does a
Beatles tribute show in Deadwood. Hank Harris will continue with his band, The
Shades, and his solo projects.
"And I'm sure Tom will play or fill in somewhere," Drew Lerdal said.
Just this fall, DD & The Fayrohs was named the best band in the Black Hills
by Rapid City Journal readers in the annual Best of the Black Hills Reader's
Choice awards.
"That was icing on the cake," she said.
Drew Lerdal said there were not any hard feelings from anyone in the band that
led to the breakup.
"We have done everything we can as a band," she said. "We figured
that we'd better call it quits before we get as pathetic looking as the Rolling
Stones."
When the band started in 1983, the members had a simple plan for the "baby
boomers" of the '80s — they would play '50s and '60s rock music with
precision harmonies and respect for the sound used by the recording artists of
those decades, Drew Lerdal said.
"There were no oldies stations in the Hills at that time," Drew Lerdal
recalled. "The 25- to 45-year-old crowd was anxious to hear the rock and
roll music they had grown up with done with respect and professionalism,"
she said.
The Fayrohs caught on quickly, and soon, standing-room-only shows were the norm.
As the opener for the Beach Boys in 1985 at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, the
band established a reputation as the first choice as opener for most major
oldies rock shows in the area.
For the past several years, the band has played gigs including weekend casino
stints in Deadwood and dental association conventions.
But the question remains: Have the members left themselves open for a reunion
tour?
"We may come back for Kool Deadwood Nights or specials like that,"
Drew Lerdal said.
"One hour, once a year, seems about right."
Contact Deb Holland at 394-8416 or deb.holland@rapidcityjournal.com